The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-12-25
THE ANCIENT CITY.
Some Recent Interesting Facts in Re-
gard to Its Early History.


st. Augustine Cor Times Union.
One of the most recent acquisitions to the
historical archives of this country is a com
pilation by John Culinary Shea, of New
York, historian of merit. This work is
entitled 'The Catholic Church In Colonial
Days and is of especial interest to st. Au-
gustine for two reasons. First many old
historical fallacieS connected with the his
tory of this city and its old buildings have
been corrected, and second, the above cor
rections, contained in chapter of perhaps
thirty pages, are due to the untiring and
jealous research of our fellow-townsman
Bishop John Moore, d. D., who in an able
address before meeting to restore the old
cathedral last March, developed the inter
esting characteristic of historian, much to
the surprise of his fellow-townsmen. The
restoration of the old cathedral incites new
interest in old st. Augustine's history, and
from the above able work we Gull the fol-
lowing, which should set at rest all doubts
upon the subjects treated. The first mass
held in st. Augustine was in 1855, upon the
landing of MenendeZ, north of Fort Marion
probably about where Howe's beach cottage
now stands
OF the first church at st Augustine the
accounts are indstinct In 1916 the church
used was wooden building IN toto. At
that time the population of ST. Augustine
was 300 only, willis as far back as 1886.
thirty-one years after its founding, it had
public buildings I'VE have none now, parish
church, hospital 1--WE need one badly, and
well-cultivated gardens, and population of
about 1876 souls. The present church was
commenced about 1859 and finished in 1891,
and is not the oldest church in America, as
many think. Its original cost was in the
neighborhood of $4,000. 1t was built in
fhs ,ss C4x 80
of coquina. One thing that visitors and
citizens have always been in doubt about
was the existence of a wall around the city
In February, 177l, John Joseph De La Pu-
enta made a survey and map of the city,
upon which is shown a wall surrounding
the west side of the town. also wall run
ming from Fort Marion to the ST. Sebastian
river. At one tim there was popular be-
lief that the cathedral and the fort were
connected by an underground passage for
the use of citizens in time of siege, but the
weakness of the cathedral as place of de-
Tense, and the fact of its being built long
after the fort, tends with the fact that no
traces of an underground passage were
ever found to reduce that belief to a ro-
mantle myth. About where Sloggett's mill
now is, and also about where Knowl-
tons mill now stands, was fort and
chapel for the places of worship for Indians
At one time in the history of Florida there
were thousands of Indian converts to the
Catholic faith. A curious thing in Mr.
Sheas work is copy of an old sketch of St
Augustine from Montanus Q67D Its char
acteristic is its inaccuracy. The fort looks
nothing like Fort Marion or like what we
have been led to believe was correct rep
resentation of the fort that stood upon Fort
Marions site. In the distance are noun
tains. They probably have been shaken
down by some earthquake into more modest
and less dignifed hills. Probably the same
hills upon which thriving village now
stands. What has caused the narrowness
and crookedness of our streets will probably
never be learned, as all histories are silent
upon these subjects